Thoughts on the cherubimical mystery, or, An attempt to prove that the cherubims were emblems of salvation by the blood of Jesus

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THOUGHTS

ON THE

CHERUBIMICAL MYSTERY 5

OR AN ATTEMPT TO PROVE,
THAT THE

CHERtJBIMS
WERE EMBLEMS OF SALVATION,

BY THE

BlooiJ of f e0U0»

IVhom he hath appointed heir of all things ', by 'VJhom alio
he made the ivorids, Heb, i. 2.

He is hefon ull things., and hyhifti oli'thingi.L'ansiit^

BY JMiES RELIX j7,^^-#
Firzt American Edition,

BOSTON:

PRINTfiO BY ENOCH H. RUST, AT B. TRUE'S PRESS,

1808.

THOUGHTS

ON THE

CHERUBIMICAL MYSTERY, &c.

THE first mention made of cherubiuis, hi
the sacred writings, is in Gen, iii. 24. when, upon
Adam's being divested of dominion, and driven
out of the garden oiEden^ for breach of covenant,
the cherubims were placed at the end of the gar-
den, to prevent his return thither.

The next mention v^^e have of cherubims, is
in Exodus xxv. 18, where God commanded Moses
to make two cherubims of beaten gold, in the
ends of the mercy-seat ; and so to adjust them,
that, covering the mercy-seat wath their wings,
and having their faces turned the one to the oth-
er, they might both be looking towards the mercy-
seat. Solomon is also said to have made cheru^
bims of olive-tree ; and, overlaynig them with
gold, to have placed them in the inner house, even
in the sacred oracle : the doors and walls of which

llousc round about, were also ornamented with
cherubims carved upon them.

But yet, the description of the cherubims,
respecting their figure, is very obscure, until we
come to the prophet Ez^kiel's account of them,
who tells us, " They had the likeness of a man :
" each of them had four faces ; the face of a man,
" and the face of a lion, on the right side, and the
«< face of an ox, on the left side ; they also each
«' of them had the face of an eagle. They had
« straight feet, and the sole of them was like the
" sole of a calve's foot, and they sparkled like the
*' colour of burnished brass. They each of thera
*• had four wings, and under their wings they had
«« the hands of a man, on their four sides." — After
this manner the prophet describes them ; nor is
the variation or difference between this and John's
account of them (Revelations iv.) at all material.
The apostle, indeed, calls thern beasts ; so the pro-
phet had called them creatures. The apostle says,
they were four, and that they were in the midst
of the throne, and round about the throne, and
that they were full of eyes before and behind. —
The first beast was like a lion, the second like a
calf, and the third had the face as a man, and the
fourth was like a flying eagle : and the four had
each of them six wings about him : and they were
full of eyes within, and they rest not day nor
night, saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almigh-
ty ! which was, and is, and is to come.

From these descriptions, I propose to attempt
an explication of the Cherubimical Mystery : by
shewing, The origin of the cherubim, and the
medium of their appearance. — -The reason and
i=pirit of their figure ; and their connection with

the wheels, as seen in the prophet's vision ; with
a view to a proper evangelical use of the doctrijie.

'^ And I looked (saith the prophet) and be*
" hold, a whirlwind came out oi the north, a great
" cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a briglit-
" ness was about it, and out of the midst thereof
«' as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the
" fire. Also, out of the midst thereof came the
*' likeness of four living creatures, and this was
" their appearance, they had the likeness of a man?
u ^c." — In the sides of the north is situated the
city of the great king.--^The title of the great king
was given by the ancient Greeks to the Persian
monarch, as the most powerful of their neigh-
bours : and even, before this aera, we find the
king of Assyria assuming the title of great king*
But the Hebrew nation, who were instructed not
to give flattering titles to men, constantly applie(J
the title of Greal King to the Lord their God.

The city of the great king, as situated in the
sides of the north, is generally applied (I think)
to the literal Jerusalem , and the 1 4th chapter of
Isaiah is expounded so as to serve this purpose. —
The Lucifer^ son of the morning, there described,
as saying in his heart, " I will ascend into heav-
*^ en ; I will exalt my throne above the stars of
" God ; I will sit also upon the mount of the con-
" gregation, in^the sides of the north." — This Lu-
cifer (I say) is commonly supposed to be the king
of Babylon,

But this hypothesis is liable to more objec-
tions than one : it is an error in geography to
make Jerusalem north of Babylon; the reverse
being true. It does not appear to have been the

6

design of the king of Babylon, at any fnne, to fix
Jus tiirone at Jerusalem ; nay, when he led his ar-
mies against her, it was rather with a view to di-
vest her Ky\ power, to raze her foundations, and to
lay her glory in the dust, than to make her the
house of hi"s kingdom, or the place his throne
should be establibhed..

Hexce, the reason and spirit of the Hth of
Isaiah, must be looked for elsewhere, than in any
thing applicable to the literal Jerusalem, and to the
king of Babylon, But, by such who are attached
to the letter, and who never go any further in their
en(|uiries after truth, it will be here urged, that the
Psahnit^t intends the literal Jerusalem ; where he
says, *' Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole
*' earth, is Mount Zion ; on the sides of the north
«' is the city of the great king." — If this be applied
Ifo the Jerusalem which is above, who is free with
her children, and who is the mother of us all, it is
indeed just and glorious. But it may not, with
propriety, bear a literal application : for, respect-
ing the Jerusalem which w^as below, and which
w^as ever in bondage with her children, it does not
appear that she excelled in the beauty of her situa-
tion, nor that she was the joy of the whole earth ;
nor that she stood in the sides of the north ; nor
that any prince who ever governed in her was
stiled the great king : for where she is at any time,
by way of eminence or distinction, called the city
of God, the holy city, &c. it is only in a typical
sense, that she is thus called, as she was a figure
of the perfect church, the spiritual Jerusalem : for,
literally, she hath very different characters in the
scriptures. — I come now to propose, that the north,
in the sides of which is the city of the great king,
and the north from whence the cherubims origina-

7

ted, is rather to be understood allegorically than
otherwise : it respects the nature and person of
man. — For God being to the whole creation of in-
teUigent beings, both celestial and terrestrial, what
the sun, as a figure, is to the latter ; those beings
may be denominated north, south, &c. just as they,
from their dignity of nature, or station, may be
situated more or less in the shine of divine favour,
and in the enjoyment of the glory of God.

Op those beings, the angels excel in dignity
and strength ; abound most in power and glory ;
and dwelling more immediately m, and enjoying
more abundantly the presence of God, they have
among them-t as the chambers of the south, perpetu-
al warmth, verdure, and fruitfulness.

But man, being originally from nature and
station, lower than the angels, and more remot©
from the views and enjoyments of the brightness
and glory of God, is as the colder north, less
warm, less fruitful, less verdant : and yet, such
is the will of the Almighty, such the riches of our
Creator's love towards us, that he hath made
choice of the sides of the barren north for his habi-
tation ; there to raise the mount of the congrega-
tion, there to build the city oj the great King 1
and this he effected, by taking on him not the na-
ture of angels, but the seed of Abraham,

Man, from his first creation, being consider-
ed as the north, it is not unnatural to suppose,
that the w^hirlwind, which the prophet saw com-
ing from thence, intended maif s fall tind rebellion
against God, which was sudden and rapid as the
whirlwind. Whirlwinds are often said to come
out ©f th« south, which the scriptures represent as

s

according to nature : but, except in the prophet^s
vision of the cherubim, I remember not to have
read of a whirlwind coming out of the north. —
Hence, the account is ushered in with a note of
attention and wonder ; Behold, a whirlwind came
out of the North ! &c. This is, at least, an inti-
mation that it related to something extremely rare
and singular, the repetition of which w^as not to
be expected. Nor is there any thing so fully
pointed out by such a figure, as is the great trans-
gression, which man having once committed, hath
it not in his pov/er to commit again.

The great cloud may intend that dark and
clouded state wherein the human soul was involv»
ed upon its departure from God, and which ren-
dered all the prospects and expectations of man
unspeakably gloomy and dreadful.

The lire infolding itself, denotes guilt, the
natural fruit of iniquity, and which the scriptures
compare to fire ; whilst the brightness round about?
may imply conviction ; consisting of remembrance,
reflection, and consciousness, and aptly considered
as a brightness distinct from the fire.

The colour of amber shining out of the midst
of the fire, is not without its significancy. The
origin of amber hath been controverted, whilst, re-
specting its qualities, as more demonstrable, there
is a general agreement.

That amber is originally liquid, mayj as I
think, be gathered from its containing flies and
other insects, Which, upon its being broken, may
be discerned in its most solid parts. That which
is gatiiered from the sea, miay probably be consoli-

. 9

dated, partly by the salts, and partly by the fer-
mentation and friction of tlie waves : hence it is
emoleinatical of punishment for sin, which receives
its force from the tumultuous distresses of the guil-
ty mind. Tne wicked are compared to the troub^
led sea, whose waters cannot rest.

Amber, is an inflammable substance, and
greatly bituminous, and is in this a figure of the
punishment due to sin, which, in the scriptures,
is represented under the similitude of fire, burning
pitcn, and brimstone. f,

Amber, is also of note for its electrical pow*

ers, another figure of the punishment of sin, which

punishment being just and equitable, drjiws into

^its vortex, for chastisement and annihilation, every

evil work, word, and thought.

The natural colour of amber is a pale yellow ;
and the prophet seeing this colour in the midst of
the fire, it denoted that guilt hath its punishment
in itself, and. yet each distinguishable from the
other.

Upon the above hypothesis I raise this propo-
sition, The whirlwind coming out of the north,
with the cloud of fire, &c. were emblematical of
the fall, with all its dreadful consequences ; con-
viction^ guilt, gloom, horror, despair, death and
hell, as the punishment thereof.

Out of the midst of this appearance the proph-
et saw the likeness of four living creatures come
forth, " and this was their appearance, they had
" the likeness of a man." — -The cherubims had,
indeed, their origin from the Father of Lights ;
R

10

but the medium of their manifestation, and the
only given reason of their utihty, was from the fall
of man, unto which they owe their appearance,
usefulness, and indeed the apparent reason of their
existence ; God having purposed in himself to glo-
rify the riches of his grace by those means. — We
read nothing of the cherubim s until after Adam's
transgression : for, though they existed with God
before (unto whom were known all his works from
the foundation of the w^orld) yet the reason and -
time of their appearance were not come until sin
entered ; but then they were immediately appoint-
ed to guard the way of the tree of life.

As I expect it will not be controverted, that
the cherubim s or living creatures, which the proph-
et saw, are the same with those which John beheld
in his vision, mentioned before, I shall, first, con-
i?ider the description according to the latter, and
that, as I judge, will throw some light upon the
i'ormer.

Jchn says, *' That the first was like a lion,
•' the second like a calf, the third had a face as a
^' man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle :
*' each had six wrings, and were full of eyes : and
•' they rest not day nor night from saying, holy,
^' holy, holy Lord God Almighty ! which w^as,
*' and is, and is to come."

This I vrordd ex])lain as follows — The num-
ber four intends the four principal particulars of
redemption by our Lord Jesus Christ — The face of
a man denotes Christ's incarnation, or the Word
made flesh — The face of the calf, ox, or heifer,
was significant of his sacrifice — The lion, ever vic-
torious, is prince of the forest, and, at his roar, the

11

whole nation of beasts tremble : this likeness le
manifestly the symbol of power, and implies our
Lord's resurrection, when he gave proof of his hay-
ing trodden down strength, of his having subdued
and destroyed sin, and nell, and death, with him
who had the power of death, even the devil. The
resurrection of Jesus had power to unbind, justify
and discharge from all sin, the helpless sons of men :
yea, at his resurrection, he had all power in heav-
en and in earth given into his hand, and therefore
fitly represented by the lion.

The eagle, from the strength of its pinion,
soaring above the reach of human eye, and from,
its piercing sight, has always been considered hiero •
glyphical of the sul^lime, the exalted, and the glo-
rious, and therefore beautifully points out our bles-
sed Lord's ascension. — Thus these four faces, in their
mystic design, bear witness to the great salvation.

Their being full of eyes before and behind,
shews the redemption of our Lord Jesus Christ look-
ing backward to Adam^ and forward to his ofF-
spring, even to the end of time.

Their wings intend the divine attributes ;
mercy, truth, righteousness, peace, wisdom and
love ; upon the consent and harmony of which the
Redeemer and his Redemption ascend above all
heavens.

EzeTciel saw but four wings to the cherubim,
because the rich display of divine wisdom and love,
in the redemption of mankind, was reserved for
the New Testament state, the heights and depths
of which were manifested to the apostles, and hence
it was that John saw six wings.

The prophet discovered under the wmgs of
the cherubmi the hands of a man, which implies
that authority and qualification derived to the Sa-
viour fiom the harmony of the divine attributes in
his great and finished salvation. — From whence,
as the reward of his toils, he merited and was qnali-
jfied to receive gifts for men, even the rebellious,
that the Lord their God might dwell among them.
— From hence, also, he has obtained that all pow-
er in heaven and in earth should be put into his
hands.

It is said of those which Joh-a saw, that they
were full of eyes within, which denotes inw^ard
light and conscious purity. As all human righteous-
nesses are compared to sepulchres, which, though
they be beautiful and whitened without, are witnin
full of rdttenness, filth, and darkness, so in contra-
distinction to the righteousness of man. — The
righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ is represen-
ted, in the beauties of holiness, as full of eyes with-
in : for, when he undertook the cause of man, and
yet to vindicate the ways of God with him, he
dre>y not his bow at a venture, but pursued his
plan in sure and certain hope, conscious of the
equity and righteousness of his proceedings and
success ; every face of his salvation was full of
eyes within, light, life, health and purity.

It is also said of those which John saw^ that
they rest not day nor night, but incessantly cry,
holy, holy, holy, &c. — This shews, that the redemp-
tion of mankind by our Lord Jesus Christ (that glo-
rious work and labour of love !) is the source of
everlasting praise unto God and to the Lamb. — All
his works praise him, but peculiarly that work of
wisdom and love where he hath saved us, and call^

13

ed us with an holy caUing ; not according to works
of righteousness as wrought by us, but according
to his own purpose and grace, given us in Jesus
Christ, before the world began. From this grace
the Almighty receives the most spiritual and cbn-
tinual praise. — This blessed grace can ascribe unto
the Father of Lights, not only wisdom, mercy and
love, but holiness, and that in perfect harmony ^md
consistent with his infinite perfections : hence the
perpetual cry of holy, holy, holy.

It was upon this glory given to God, and not
before, that the four-and-twenty elders fell down
before him that sat on the throne, and worsriipped
him that liveth for ever, and ever, casting their
crowns before his throne, saying, " Thou art wor-
'' thy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and
" power ; for thou hast created all things, and for
" thy pleasure they are and were created.''

From the above we are taught. That the eld-
ers have their matter, spirit, and right of praise,
from the great redemption. — When the faces of
salvation, in truth and justice, ascribe holiness to
God, and rejoice in his purity thereby, preachhig
the everlasting gospel, and giving proof to man of
the harmony of the divine properties in Jesus
Christ, by whom all things consist, then it is that
all those who rejoice in that salvation, shout forth
the praises of the Lord, and beings taught to know
him, who was from the beginning, they learn the
end and design of their creation.

From the remarks which I have already made,
I trust it will be seen that John's description of the
beasts, is exactly coincident with EzekieVs descrip-
tion of the cherubim ; both containing, inmyjudg-

14

ment, the same mystery, without any material dif-
ference in the description.

I HAVE ah*eady hinted, that though the faces
of salvation were ever before the divine presence,
God havnig from everlasting appointed us to sal-
vation by Jesus Christ, yet it was by means of the
faii of mun that the divine decree, respecting this
m.itter, was revealed to him. — Tho' the grace and
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, comprehended in
the Cherubimical Mystery, was the eternal delight
of the Most High, and what he had as the first and
principal in view when he made the worlds. — Yet>
uiitil the fall, neither the excellence nor necessity
of this grace appeared.

Thus we may consider the cherubims coming
out of the whirlwind, the cloud, the fire, &c. to be
the revelation of Christ, respecting the method and
glory of his salvation, manifesting itself by means
of the fall : then mankind had the first specimen of
God's wonderful working, where, out of the eater,
he brought meat, and out of the strong, sweetness ;
and, without controversy, taught us that all things
work together for our good.

T E cherubims, as symbols of salvation by Je-
sus Christ, were placed at the east end of the gard-
en of Eden, accompanied by a flaming sw^ord which
turned every way to defend the w^ay of the tree of
life : but of this I shall have occasion to speak
hereafter.

All things, man in particular, being made for
Jesus Christ, designed as an inheritance for a be-
loved son, subjects for a prince, a flock for the
shepherd, and a bride for the bridegroom, they

15

were destined to a state of eternal dependance on
him. Man being originally formed for the glory
of Christ, his first creation state, respecting riglite-
ousness and holiness, was simply figurative. Hence
the apostle tells us, that j^da7n was a figure of him
that was to come.

Adam^ while he lived in the figure only, knew
not the intent of his existence, nor that there was
before him a greater good than he yet enjoyed.
Naturally supposing that his innocence entitled
him to the favour of God, he must necessarily con-
clude, that his continuance in the state of inno-
cence would secure to him that favour. This idea
originated in Adam, from the entrance of the law,
notwithstanding it entered for other purposes ; and
though it was immediately superseded by the gos-
pel, in the promise of the woman's seed, to bruise
the serpent's head, yet the taint remains, the pre-
judice is conspicuous in his offspring, who general-
ly say, that if Adam had observed the precept, he
and his posterity would have been saved by his
obedience : and that Adam^ being a free agent, in-
stead of transgressing as he did, might have con-
tinued in his righteousness, and thereby secured
eternal life to himself and to his offspring.

But this, in my judgment, is such an egregious
mistake, as betrays an absolute ignorance of the
scriptures, and of the power of God. — The apostle
says, " If there had been a law given which could
have given life, verily righteousness should have
been by the law," GaL iii. 21. — Hence I argue, the
insufficiency of the law given to Adam^ to give him
life, was because it had no such appointment : it
was not given him for that end, as appears from
Rom, V. 20. " Moreover, the law entered that the

10

<"' offence might abound." From hence it may be

inferred, that Adam's obedience, had he persisted
in it, would not have entitled him to eternal life :
forasmuch as the salvation of Jesus was not an in-
cidental affair, dependant on contingencies, but a
matter fixed in the fore-knowledge, and by the de-
terminate counsel of God, w ho had not appointed
us unto vvTath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord
Jesus Christ : nor was it possible that any effort of
the creature should frustrate this decree of the
Creator ; therefore he could at no time obtain sal-
vation by the w orks' of his own hands.

Human wisdom hath feigned, and tradition
keeps it in countenance, that God promised salva
tion to Adam on condition of his obedience : bu^.
this is not the doctrine of the scriptures ; nay, from
these the contrary is manifest, as appears from ob-
servations already made.

Nor does it follow, because Adam was threat-
ened with death on the day he eat of the forbid-
■ den fruit, that he was to inherit eternal life on con-
dition of his abstiiience : this beijig, at best, but neg-
ative holiness ; and, with the nature of things, in-
consistently entitled to reward. Moreover, the apos-
tle assures us, that the promise w^as not thro' the law.

As to the pretence that Adam had a freedom
of will, and that the choice of good or evil was in
his power ; I reply, the power, or even the possi-
bility of choosing evil, is incompatible with a per-
fect state. Hence I infer, that Adam^ as a perfect
man, could have no disposition to choose the evil.

If it depended on the creature's choice wheth-
er he would be saved by his ovv n righteousness or

17

not, then was it in the creature's power to confirm
or disannul the decrees ol his Creator ; tlian which
to imagine, there can be nothing (in my judgment)
more absurd and impious*

To suppose the same person having an equal
freedom of choice towards good and evil, is an ab-
surdity much more glaring than that of a hermaph-
rodite in the human kind. It is a creature inequi^
iibrio, between good and e\il, and yet not so, be-
cause he chose the evil rather than the good : these
and many more are the inconsistencies deducible
from the notion of free- agency in man.

I AM aware of what will be deemed a full an-
swer to this, /. e. " The balance in man had not in-
*' clined to evil but for the interposition of an ene-
" my." — To which I answer, a fort, described ai?
above, could not be taken but from a traitor with-
in, or from the will of the prince to dismantle and
give it up. — I am confirmed in this from a saying
of our Saviour's : " For the prince of this world
*' Cometh, and hath nothing in me." — Jesus being
a perfect man, hath not the evil se^ai in him, and
therefore wiien tempted was not overcome. — Adam
originally, had not the evil seed in him, and there-
fore could not have been overcome by temptation :
nor can the subtil ty nor force of the enemy effect
any thing against perfection.

The cause, therefore, of the lapse must be
sought for elsewhere, and the Psalmist explains it
as follows : " Thou turnest man to destruction." — -
As the husbandman turns his vineyard to destruc-
tion, by neglecting its fences and culture ; so that,
instead of the vine and the fig-tree, thorns and
thistles over-run it ; and the wild boar of the vvood
having access, uproots every pleasant plant.

18

: The apostle says, "The creature was made
'' subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of
'' him who subjected the same in hope,'' -Row viii,
20. That Adam was the creature here intended,
will not (as I suppose) be questioned : and in that
he was MADE subject to vanity, it implies that ha
did not subject himself to it. — He was made subject
not willingly — ^This must intend either the will of
him who made the creature subject, or the will of
the creature himself j but the first cannot be in-
tended, whether the power who subjected the crea-
ture be supposed to be gracious or malignant.

I AM aware of the common received opinion,
that it was satan who subjected the creature to van-
ity ; but, surely, it cannot be said of him that he
acted unwillingly in the affair. — Nor can it be said
of the Almighty, where he is supposed to have sub-
jected the creature to vanity, that he did it unwil-
lingly, as it would imply him under a necessity of
acting contrary to his will : it must therefore in-
tend the will of the creature himself, — From thence
I infer, that the will of the creature was not con-
cerned in his subjection, nor was it the consequence
of his choice, for that would necessarily imply thaC
the creature had, from creation, an evil bias, which
consists not with the purity of the Creator.

But the creature was made subject to vanity
b}' reason of him who subjected the same in hope ;
7. 6\ as I humbly conceive, by reason of Jesus Christ,
who being originally appointed heir of all things,
ALL things, Man in particular, being made for him,
these were the appointed means by which he was
to gain possession of his own. — As the figure must
necessarily give place to the substance, it was requi-
site that the creature should be subjected to vanity?

19

that the purpose and grace given him in Ghrisr
Jesus, before the world began, might take that
place unto which it was appointed.

If the Saviour is the person by reason of whom
the creature was subjected to vanity, the inference
is easy respecting that will and power which sub-
jected him, though done by the agency of him,
who acting as an enemy, nor sought nor expected
ought less than the ruin of the creature. That the
serpent, or satan, did it, is what the scriptures af-
firm, but the will of God limits the power of satan,
and the wisdom of God over-rules all his devices ;
so that Satan's doing it, is no denial of his doing it
by the determinate will of God, and by reason of
Christ. The subtilty and enmity of the serpent to
God and Man being made, in this particular, to
subserve the purpose of grace. Thus Christ ap-
pointing, over-ruling, and conducting, may be con-
sidered as the power, by reason of whom, and by
whom, the creature was subjected to vanity in
hope, though affected by the agency of another. —
I am aware that sundry affect to make wide dis-
tinctions between appointment and permission, and
as they relate to man, such distinctions may be
just ; but, surely, when applied to the Divine Be-
ing, they are unwarrantable, yea absolutely wrong.

Man, defective in knowledge, fore-knowledge,
in wisdom and power, may permit what he does
not appoint ; yea, what may be contrary to his
choice, because (by him) not to be prevented.

But such distinctions are by no means appli-
cable to him who is in himself the fulness of all per-
fection. However men philosophize, or play the
sophist, it is impossible, to common sense, to separ*

20

ate necessity from fore-knowledge. God foreknew
that Adayn would fall ; but it was impossible for
infinite wisdom to be mistaken, Adam must fall,
nor was it in himself to prevent it. All power is
of God ; therefore whatsoever i$ to the fore-knowl-
edge of God, is so in consequence of his own ap-
pointment. Fore-knowledge may be considered
as the consciousness which the Divine Being has
of his decrees, they being infallible, not to be frus-
trated nor altered, and therefore, w^ith all their
fruits and consequences ever before him, irreversi-
ble and unavoidable. Nor doth he permit but
what tends to fulfil his decrees. Hence, all afl'ec-
tations to distinguish between the decree and the
permission, in God, have more subtilty than sim-
plicity, as expedients contrived by the wisdom of
this world to exculpate the Almighty from the
charge of acting inconsistent to the rules which hu-
man prudence dictates to him. But common sense
says, w^hat God permits he foreknew, and what he
foreknew he had decreed.

I HAVE observed, that Christ was the person
\rj reason of whom, or on whose account the crea-
ture was made subject to vanity j and that not-
withstanding it was done by satan, yet he being
made to serye the glory of Christ in that particular,
and employed to fulfil the decree, the text repre-
sents the person, by reason of whom it was done,
as the doer of it hiniself, and says, " That he did
it in hope^

In hope of blessing them with a new and bet-
ter creation.— Thus He, who sat upon the throne,
said. He, would make all things new, notwithstand-
ing his having, at the first, pronounced them very
good. — A manifest indication, that the original

ii

state of man was not planned for eternity; was
not built for continuance, but to serve the purpose
of God's love to his Son, and to mankind, as com*
prehended in him.

He subjected the creature to vanity, in hope
of attaining that glory and honour that had been
decreed him, as the Saviour of men : the way to
which was through his death on the cross. But
the humiliation of Jesus hath its propriety from a
previous subjection of the creature to vanity, which
sense (among others; is admitted in our Lord sown
words- ^' Ought not Christ to have suffered those
thinjrsr— And again, "Thus it behoved htm to
5^/#fr."— Here the subjection of the creature to
vanity is manifestly pre-supposed, and rendered as
a reason of his sufferings and death; yea, and ot
an obligation that he was under thus to suffer and
die, that he might enter into his glorf. This be-
ing the hope in which he subjected the creature to
vanity, and which hope he perfectly obtained.

Where there is no law there is no transgres--
sion.— Without law, man originally could not have
sinned :' the law therefore entered that the offence
might abound, Undoubtedly the first entrance ot
the law, in substance, was in God's ordinance to
Adam ; " Thou shalt not eat of it ; in the day thou
" eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die."— The de-
sign of which vv^as not to prevent his fall, nor was
it intended as a ministration of life to him, on con-
dition of his obedience, but it entered that the ot-
fence might abound ; abound to every wcrk, word
and thought of every man; abound wiih juclg^
ment and condemnation, to the total reduction ot
the creature, until every seeming avenue of salva-
tion, by man's own obedience, should be shut up
from him, and from his posterity for ever.

22

«•!«•»••*•

When iust had conceived, it broniglit forth
ehi } the prohibition coxitained in the law operat-
ing on creature curiosity, produced inclination, and
stimulated to desire ; from the conjunction of the
prohibition with this desire (the latter of whicK is
increased by the plainness and positiveness of the
farmer) the offence proceeded, abounding to j4dam
and to all his offspring.

But, lest it should be objected, that this doc-
trine makes God to act from sovereignty, to the ir*
reparable loss of his creatures, let it be understood,
that where sin abounded, grace much more abound-
ed ; so that the glory of God, and the eternal wel-
fare of mankind, have been much more promoted
by man's death in Adam, and his life in Christ,
than they could possibly have been by his continu-
ance ill the state wherein he was created.

This revolution being ordained and appointed
to serve the decree of salvation, by the blood of
Jesus, is not to be respected as a matter of accident,
a meer fruit of the human will ; nor as the produce
of Satan's power, cunning, and enmity ; but that
it vras effected by the will of God, a death by him
appointed to be the gate of life.

Man being originally formed for the glory of
Christ, and to be an inhabitant in his kingdom, it
was not intended that he should continue in this
world, because the kingdom of Christ is not of this
world. — It is a fond mistake to suppose that Adam^
on condition of his obedience, might have lived for
ever in this world ; nor is there the least shadow
of such a^; implication contained in those words ;
z. e, " In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt
*^ surely die." — Since, ^sAdam lived several hund-

23

ifed years after that transaction, it is manifest that
natural death, or that of the body, was not intend-
ed in the threatning.

It is indeed said, that in the midst of the gard-
en, wherein the man was placed, there grew a tree
which had hfe-giving virtues, and of which, if the
man had eaten, he might have lived for ever ; but
this tree, it seems, was not thought of by Adam be-
fore his fall ; and, no sooner was he fallen, than
he was driven out from the garden, and his return
prevented by the awful cherubim and llaming
sword, which turned every w^ay to defend the way
of the tree of life, lest the man, putting forth his
hand, should take and eat and live for ever.

This is a mystery, the explication of which I
conceive to be as follaws : the tree of life was Jesiis
Christ : but Adanh before his lapse, being righteous
and holy in himself, could have no sense of the
free grace of his God, nor of his everlasting salva-
tion in Jesus : conveniency and necessity of these
were not yet known to him, therefore he had no
desire to eat. But when none other prospect, than
that of the shadow of death, remained to his view.
when fallen a prey to the furies, guilt and despair^
it was revealed to him, that th^e woman's seed was
to be his salvation : then was he disposed to put
forth his hand to take and eat of the tree of life,
and to live for ever, as implied in the sacred text.

Yet, as the terms used in tlie promise arc lit
erally ambiguous, and rather seemingly import de-
struction to the serpent, than deliverance to mart,
Adam might be naturally enough induced to imag-
ine, that though salvation was intended him, thro'
the woman's seed, or the Lord's Messiah, it mi2:ht

24

be conditional, and required the putting forth of the
hand, in repentance, contrition, new obedience, &c.
in order to his being benefited thereby ; and, by
these means, attempt to re-enter paradise there, by
putting forth his hand to take and eat of the tree of
life, and live for ever.

i.i

When Moses is read, the text says, " Lest he
put forth his hand and take also of the tree of
" life, and eat and live for ever." — But when Jesus
is read, the text says, " Whosoever liveth and be-
^' lieveth in me, shall never die." — And again, " He
" that eateth me, shall live by me." — Thus, Jesus is
the tree of life which grows in the midst of the par-
adise of God.

When God drove Adam out of Edc/i, it vs'as
not with the design that he should never, on any
account, eat of the tree of life, or of Christ, but to
prevent in him every shadow of title to eat thereof,
from human merit. — " Lest he put forth his hand
" AND TAKE," Said God ; which putting forth of the
hand, as it implies a creature act, so is it with the
utmost metaphorical power made use of to distin-
guish human righteousness ; for thus we read in the
prophet : " If thou take away from the midst of
*' thee, the yoke, and the putting out of the finger."
— Lest Adam^ by human efforts, or v/orks of right-
eousness done by himself, should attempt to eat of
the tree of life, or, on the authority of such prelim-
inaries, presume to depend on God's Messiah for
eternal felicity. — I say, to prevent his aspiring to
happiness by these means, God drove out the man
from Eden^ and not only thence, but out from him-
self, also from every pleasing hope of salvation,
suggested by means of self-sufficiency. And, to
Iteep him under this conviction, to deter him from

u

attempting an entrance by these means, God plac^
fed before him the cherubim, with the flaming
sword, which turned every way to defend the way
of the tree of life.

The revelation of God, or the holy scriptures,
are compared to a sword, a two-edged sword ;
quick, sharp, and powerful, piercing even to the
soul and spirit; and here to a flaming sw^ord,
turning every way to keep the way of the tree of
life.—The word which God had spoken to Adam,
containing a promise of salvation to mankind by
the woman's seed, was (m my judgment) the flam-
ing sword, intended in the text. This revelation,
or word of promise, being engaged for the glory of
Christ, as the alone Saviour, and to prove and de-
fend his salvation as free, and without works of
righteousness as done by us, stands here connect-
ed with the faces of salvation, and waves as a
flaming sword, aweing man from the putting forth
of his hand, or from approaching to eat and live
thereby ; z. e. from attempting to attain unto the
righteousness of God, by the establishment of his
own righteousness.

However awful and terrible the cherubim and
flaming sword might be to Adam's flesh, tliey were
yet the gospel of God to his spirit, and designed to
instruct him in the method of grace and salvation
by Jesus Christ.— They taught inm, that, by means
of Christ's incarnation, sacrifice, resurrection and
ascension, he might eat of the tree of life, and live
for ever, there being none other means of re-enter-
ing paradise, or of his approaching the tree of life
left him but by the cherubim.— Nor was it possiole
for him to come in by him, while he retained the
thought of availing hnnself by the putting xorth of

26

the hand, or by any virtue, work, or device of his
own ; because of that flaming sword, which is ever
attendant on the cherubim ; tiiat revelation or word
of God, wjiich maintains that there is none other
name, named in heaven or on earth, than the name
of Jesus, that contains salvation.

Man, like a thief or a jobber, is always lurk-
ing and prying to get in some other way than by
the cherubim, to plunder the tree of life, to eat and
live : but the word of the Lord, or the flaming
sword, still prevents him, by turning every way to
keep the w^ay of the tree of life. — The word of God
stands armed to oppose every other way to the tree
of life than the cherubimical way, and resolutely
and infallibly resists every human attempt to enter,
eat and live, by other means than the cherubim.

We read no more of the cherubim until God
commanded AIos(^s to form their likenesses, as fol-
lows : *' Thou shalt make a mercy-seat of pure
*' gold; two cubits and a half shall be the length
*^ thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth there-
*' of: and thou make two cherubims of gold, of
•* beaten work shall thou make them, in the two
• ends of the mercy-seat; one cherub on the oneend
'• and the other cherub on the other end, even of
^^ the mercy-seat: & the cherubims shall stretchforth
'* their wings on high, covering the mercy-seat with
" their wings: and their faces shall look one towards
" another, toward the mercy-seat shall the faces of
'' the cherubim be, and thou shalt put the mercy-
** seat above upon the ark, and in the ark thou
" shalt put the testimony which I shall give thee."

That the gospel of salvation, by and /// Jesus
Qirist, was taught in all these things, admits of no

27

controversy. — First, the ark itself was a figure o:'
Christ, is manifest from its use, being a chest, cof
fer, or vessel, either to keep in security, or to pre-
serve from loss and ruin, such valuables as were en
dearing to the Preserver. — Such was the ark form
ed for the preservation of the seeds of the creatiou
in Noak and his family, and of the creatures who
were with him. — Such w^as the ark, though made
of bulrushes, or flags, in which Moses himself was
preserved from the destruction unto which the
Hebrew male children were doomed by an Egyp-
tian tyrant. — Such was the ark which the same
Moses made according to the pattern shewn him in
the Mount, and which was ordained to contain and
preserve the tables of the law, Aaron's rod, and
the pot of manna.

The mystery of the rod took its rise from
hence ; The princes of the congregation, to the
number of two hundred and fifty, stired up by
Korah and his associates, gathered themselves to-
gether against Moses and Aaron ; their pretence
was, that the brothers took too much authority and
sanctity upon them, seeing that the congregatioa
were all holy, and the Lord among them. — -Thus
tacitly accusing them of lifting themselves up, from
carnal motives, above the congregation of the Lord,
they appeared determined to abridge their power.
•—But this disposition of theirs brought wrath from
the Lord upon them ; the earth opened its mouth
and swallowed up Korah and his company quick
4nto the pit ; and, among the others, a fire from
theLord brake forth, which quickly consumed them.
— This occasioned another and more universal mur-
muring among the people, which was chastised by
a plague, whereof died fourteen thousand and seveu
hundred ; and, but for the interposition of the
litonement, they had been ail dead meai.

To heal those murmurings, and to prevent, for
ihe future, the heavy chastisements v^'hich had
hitherto followed them, the Lord commanded that
the chief of each tribe should take a rod, and that
Moses should write each person's name upon his
rod, and Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi ; and
that those rods should be laid up before the Lord
in the Tabernacle of Witness ; declaring, that the
man whom he would choose from among them, to
rninister in holy things before him, and to govern
the congregation. He (the Lord) would cause his
rod to blossom, that the people by that token (know»
hig the Lord's choice) might have no colourable
excuse for their murmuring.

" And it came to pass, that, on the morrow,
" Moses went into the Tabernacle of Witness, and
«' behold the rod of Aaron^ for the house of Le-vi^
*' was budded, and brought forth buds, & bloomed
«' blossoms, and yielded almonds." — And the Lord
commanded that Aaron's rod should be kept for a
testimony against ihe rebels ; and that Moses, by
this rod, should quite take away their murmuring
from before the Lord.— The rod accordingly was
put into the ark.

But there was more intended by this rod than
that it should be a sign of whom the Lord had chos-
en to govern his church ; it was designed to take
away their murmuring ; not by a literal preven-
tion of it through some physical change, for this it
did not effect, as appears from their manifold mur-
murings after this transaction.

The rod, in scripture language, denotes chas-
tisement : the princes of the congregation were fig-
ures of the people, but Aaron was a figure of Christ.
The trial by rods was a revelation of the mystery of
the divine will respecting his choice of a chastise-
ment for sin, relative both to the object and method.

S9

In brief, Aaron^ rod was an emblem of Ch /rise's
sustaining the chastisement of our peace. /The
prophet says, "The chastisements of our jheace
«' were laid upon him." — And in the Psalnpis we
read concerning him : " If his children forsocik my
*' laws, &c. I will visit their offences with a roid, &c.
" nevertheless, my loving kindness I will not! utter-
" ly take from him, nor suffer my faithfuhiiess to
*^ fail."--And so far was the Captain of our Salva-
tion from r«:^pining at the rod, or the visitattion of
our offences upon himself, that the deliverance of
n-ankind was the joy that was set before him^ when
he endured the cross, and despised the siianit^ —
Again, he says, " Thy rod and thy staff tht y com-
*' fort me." — And again, " He shall drink oi cha
" brook in the way, therefore shall he life up his
♦* head."—- Ail which implies, that it w^as not con-
trary to his choice that the judge of Israel was
smitten on the cheek with a rod.

The blooming, blossoming, and fruit ofAaro?fs
rod, intends the happy consequences resulting trom
the sufferings and death of Jesus.— The sorrows
and sufferings of Jesus teem with light, life, and
immortality to the sons of men. — These, cloathed
upon with the garment of salvation, are the fruit of
his perfect obedience and bloody toil. — This was
the rod which put away the murmurings of the
people from before 'God, by expiating the guilt,
and blotting out the remembrance thereof for ever.
- — Hence, the figure of this grace and love m Aaron's
rod, as a second despositum, was placed in the ark
of the covenant, in the tabernacle of witness.

The manna also, as typical of Jesus, the bread
of life, was preserved in the ark — When the Israel-
ites were fed with manna, in the wilderness, if they
kept It over night it stank, became corrupt, and
bred v/orms (the sabbath excepted) : but, when a

^0

pot of this manna was put into the ark, it was pre^
served in purity for many generations. — This was
desii^ned to teach them, that their spiritual food,
and that eternal Hfe which God hath given them,
was treasured up in the Messiah, in whom all the
treasures of wisdom and of knowledge were hid-
den, and that it was not in themselves. — Hence,
they were not to lay up grounds of comfort and
consolation against the morrow, but to have their
purity, peace and joy in the Messiah, and therefore
always to be found looking unto him as the author
and finisher of our faith ; while, laying aside every
weight, they run the race set before them with pa-
tience.

The tables of the testimony were also deposit-
ed in the ark, by express command from the Most
High : " And though shalt put into the ark the
*« testimony which I shall give thee," Exod, xxv.
15. — And aga'm ; " Take this book of the law and
" put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of
*' the Lord your God, that it may be there for a
" witness against thee," Dent xxxi. 26.

A WITNESS ! of what ? Not on their side, for it
w^as against them : it testified against all their right-
eousnesses that they were but filthy rags, and that
they were altogether incapable of keeping the law
contained in the tables : even Moses himself, the
meekest of the sons of men, had such ungodlike
passions, that the tables were not safe in his hands :
they could only (in perfection and safety) be kept
in Christ, of whom the ark was designed a figure.
In the pierced side of Jesus were the tables to be de-
posited ; there was the law to be magnified and
made honorable ; there to be kept as a witness a-
gainst all the righteousness of man.

This is further exemplified in the burial of
Moses : we are told that God himself buried him

31

in a valley overagainst Befh-peor ; which implies
the house of the gaping or opening, or the orifice
in the side of Jesus ; for certainly here it is that
Moses lies buried.

Moses, and the body of Moses, as terms some-
times used in the scriptures, are to be understood
figuratively, as representing the law given by him,
— ^Thus in the definition which we have in the Epis-
tle to the Hebrews, of the servant and son : '* Mo-
*' ses as the servant, faithful in the house of Godj
" who, notwithstanding, was not to continue in the
' ' house for ever," certainly intends the law given
by him which was to give place to the gospel, to
that grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ,

Again ; the apostle saith, " Moses hath in ev-
<« ery city them that preach him." — And again,
wlierr Moses is read, " The veil is on their hearts.*'
— ^These all intend the law which is called Moses,
from its being his ministry ; so, by the body of Mo-
ses, we are to understand the whole of the law in
its fulness of reason and spirit. — This body was
buried in the valley of the Lamb's humiliation, hav
ing in prospect the blood and water from his pierc-
ed side, and is spiritually the burial of the body of
Moses in the valley overagainst Befh-peor, or the
house of gaping, or the opening. — God himself bu-
ried him ; nor on the day that the account w\^s
WTitten did any man know of his sepulchre. — But;
in these latter days, God speaking to us by his Son,
has shewn us that the body of Moses (respecting
the precepts, requisites, and curses of the law) was
buried in the obedience, sorrows, and sufferings of
Jesus ; and therefore the believer in Jesus now
knows of the sepulchre oi Moses,

We also read in Jude of Michael, the arch-
angel, disputing with the devil about the body of
Moses, which I understand thus : satan, whose en-

32

hiity and rage are ever pointed against the free sal-
vation of man, by Jesus Christ, challenged Michael
to shew him the sepulchre of Moses : he contended
that a free salvation was inconsistent with the law^
or bod}' of Moses^ arguing, that that body was not
yet dead and buried, as no man knew of his se-
pulchre ; i. e. that the law had not its full and final
accomplishment in the obedience, sorrows, and suf-
ferings of Jesus, and therefore was neither magni-
fied nor made honourable by that salvation, so that
the body oi Moses had not a just and honorable bu
rial. — Such was, is, and will be the language of an
enemy to the ways of God with man.

But, to return from such unnecessarydigres
sions, as they may probably be thought by some
who may read them, and to draw nearer to the
subject proposed. — Taking it for granted that the
ark, with its contents, were figurative of Christ, his
person, purity, passion, and salvation, we have to
observe, that the mercy-seat was placed over the
ark, to fignify that mercy is built upon Christ, and
on his fullilling all righteousness.

From the mercy-seat being made of pure gold,
many useful hints might be given, such as of the
purity, extension, durableness, &t. of divine mercy ,
but I would, if possible, avoid being prolix in the
extreme. — The cherubim being beaten out of one
piece of gold with the mercy-seat, denotes that the
cherubim, or the faces of salvation, originated from
love and mercy, as properties in the divine nature.
— The cherubim having their faces directed to the
mercy-seat, exhibits a reason wherefore mercy
should be administered thence, wherefore God
should in faithfulness and justice forgive man his
sins, and cleanse him from all unrighteousness.

THE END.

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

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